Low-cost carrier GoAir may have its way with the aviation ministry in getting a waiver from the norm that makes it mandatory for the schedule airlines to have a minimum of 20 aircraft to be eligible to fly abroad. According to ministry officials, the government is ?seriously considering? the request.

The Wadia Group airline, in a letter to the aviation ministry, has asked for permission to be allowed to fly international with its present fleet size of 12 aircraft. The carrier has given examples of foreign carriers like GMC Airlines ? the oldest private airline of Bangladesh, and Royal Nepal Airlines, which have a fleet size of less than 10 and still fly to and from India.

The carrier has argued that ?when the foreign carriers can be allowed to operate from India with lesser number of aircraft, why cannot the domestic carriers be allowed to go international without such restriction?. The ministry official said that the aviation minister Ajit Singh has been open to the idea and has asked the officials to see ?if and how it can be worked out?.

Two of the main criteria for a schedule operator to go international are that the airline should have been in operations for last five year and it should have 20 aircraft. The Mumbai-headquartered airline has been operating domestic flights for last seven years. Though, till recently, the carrier has not been so bullish about the international market, now with its order to have 72 new airbus aircraft, the carrier is looking at adding a few short-haul flights. Despite repeated attempts, the mails and calls made to GoAir officials remained unanswered.

GoAir?s letter echoes the views of some of sections of aviation industry that has been pushing for similar changes. ?The key consideration of the ministry should include quality of aircraft, pilots, infrastructure and technical and financial track records of the promoters. All this can be scrutinized by competent authorities over 3-4 months. Once the airlines clear this, they may be permitted to fly abroad anytime they want ,? Amber Dubey, partner and head (aviation), KPMG, said.

GoAir too has been a gainer amid the ongoing crisis at Air India and Kingfisher. The carrier holds a market share of 6.9% against 4.2% of Kingfisher and 6.7% of JetLite.